What Makes You Different
by Lemonly
Summary: Tino has always thought that Lor's differences are what makes her the most beautiful girl in Baja Bay.


_You don't run with the crowd  
You go your own way_

Lorraine McQuarrie was a unique brand of teenage girl. While Tish had gotten caught up in the fight to be part of the popular crowd upon entering high school, Lor had remained relatively the same. She had stayed best friends with Tino and Carver, who had turned down the invitation to the popular crowd in favor of not abandoning his friends; he still needed to be reminded of what a good thing he did every now and then.

Lor never remotely tried to fit in, happy with wearing torn up jeans and her brothers old jerseys every day. She was obviously hurt when Tish turned against them, but so were Tino and Carver, but she rarely let Tish's comments get to her. She was perfectly content to continue to march to the beat of her own drum, as she always had.

Tino smiled at Lor as she ran over to him and Carver, wearing her older brother, Toby's, old Baja Bay High School football jersey and the pair of jeans that she had painted and written all over once they got ruined when the boys had helped her to repaint her room.

"Sorry I'm late." she said as the three made their way to the football field, "My dad wanted to make sure that I knew that there would be no boys, except for you two, tonight."

Tino had to laugh at that. Mr. McQuarrie, along with Lor's multiple brothers, was extremely protective of Lor in that, if she talked to any guy other than Tino and Carver, they felt the need to let to poor guy in on what would happen if they were to so much as touch Lor.

The only guys that ever got to see Lor alone, no brother sent to spy, were Tino and Carver. Even after Tino and Lor got together, Tino still retained to right to being alone with Lor. When he had inquired as to why that was, Mr. McQuarrie replied that he knew that Tino would never do anything to Lor that she didn't want or that would hurt her.

The answer made Tino beam proudly, causing Lor to laugh at him for about an hour.

_You don't play after dark  
You light up my day_

"I should probably head home." Lor said softly as she and Tino watched the sun set from the Tino's terrace.

"Why?" Tino laughed softly, kissing the top of her head.

"Because I hate walking home after dark." Lor replied sheepishly, "It makes me paranoid."

Tino had to laugh as Lor blushed before he sheepishly suggested, "You could stay here for the night."

"My dad-"

"Call him. Explain you don't like walking home in the dark and that I'm afraid of the dark, so even if I walked you home, I'd probably end up sleeping at your house."

"And where would the lie be?"

"Haha." Tino replied sarcastically, "Let's make fun of Tino because he's still afraid of everything."

Lor's laugh brought a huge smile to Tino's face, his smile growing as Lor pulled her cell phone out and walked inside to call her day.

After about twenty minutes, nineteen of those minutes spent fighting with her brother-Henry-to give the phone to their dad, she walked back onto the terrace and curled back up in Tino's arms.

"I was gearing up for a fight, you know, I had all my arguments figured out and everything, and then I asked my dad and guess what he said." Lor smiled up at Tino.

"What?" Tino replied, returning her smile.

"'Okay'." Lor laughed, "That was all. 'Okay'. I mean, I knew he liked you, and trusted you, but I had no idea he liked you that much."

"Well, he just doesn't know how dangerous I can be." Tino replied, kissing her.

"Hey, Danger Boy, can we go inside? It's getting a little chilly out here." Lor laughed, standing up and leading Tino into the house.

Tino went over to his dresser and pulled out one of his t-shirts, "You can sleep in this if you want."

Lor smiled and walked into his closet to change, vowing to "forget" to give him his shirt back the next day.

_Got your own kind of style  
That sets you apart  
Baby, that's why you captured my heart  
_

Carver laughed as he saw Lor coming toward them in her 80s attire for Theme Day of Baja Bay High School's spirit week. She wore a short jean skirt, with black tulle underneath to make it more of a tutu kind of look, a black tank top with a denim jacket (the same light denim color as her skirt), hot pink leg warmers, and tennis shoes. Tino's mom had done Lor's hair that morning, crimping and teasing it, then pulling it up into a high side ponytail held up by a hot pink scrunchie.

"You look great, Lor." Tino smiled, elbowing Carver, who had refused to dress in the "out-dated" attire.

"You actually manage to make that look pretty okay." Carver finally said, "I think this is the first time in six months that you've worn a skirt."

"It was Tino's Mom's idea." Lor glared down at the offending piece of clothing.

The day past with every girl wearing something similar to Lor, but more neon-y and pink, and nowhere close to looking as good as Lor did in it.

At the end of the day, they stopped by Lor's house, laughing as she all but ran to her room, eager to change back into her usual clothes.

She reappeared ten minutes later wearing her favorite pair of jeans and one of Tino's shirts that she had stolen from him; her make-up gone and her hair thrown into a giant, poofy ponytail.

"You look-" Tino stammered, trying to find the words to describe how she looked wearing _his_ shirt; not Thompson Overman's shirt, but _his_ shirt.

Lor smiled coyly back at him, kissing him sweetly as Carver made gagging sounds.

_I know sometimes you feel like you don't fit in  
And this world doesn't know what you have within_

The three friends sat under their usual tree at lunch, Tino and Carver playing with the paper football they had made during English and Lor was reading Little Women, the English assignment and Lor's favorite book.

Tino and Carver turned as Lor let out a heavy sigh before looking back down at her book. They looked in the direction that she had been looking in and saw Tish, walking with Kristy and Kandy, toward the football field, the usual group of guys hanging around them was ever present.

Lor would never admit it out loud, but the guys knew that she missed Tish, that she felt like she was outside looking in at times. They shared a sad smile and Tino wrapped his arms around Lor, pulling her closer to him and kissing her temple, trying to offer all the comfort he could, while Carver tried to pull her out of the mood by asking about the family camping trip that would be coming up, causing Lor to snap out of the mood and went into an enthusiastic explanation of the week-end that was in store, preparing the guys-who would be joining the McQuarries, along with their families, for the first time-for the craziness that was extended periods of time with her family.

Tino smiled into her neck as he listened to the list of dos and don'ts of the trip, and couldn't help the smile that spread across his face when Carver began to freak out about the no cots rule.

_When I look at you, I see something rare  
A rose that can grow anywhere (grow anywhere)_

Tino ran after Lor, who had run off after Tish publicly tore her down in the cafeteria, in front of half the school, and who had taken it too far. He ran into the bathroom, not caring if there was anybody else in there, he just knew that he needed to get to Lor.

"Lor," Tino walked down the row of stalls, stopping in front of the only one containing a person, "please come out."

"No." Lor replied, her voice rough, showing that she had been crying.

"Come on, Lor," Tino pleaded, not ashamed to beg, "Please. You've always relied on me when you needed strength, why can't you now?"

"I don't want you to see me and realize that Tish was right." Lor replied, "That you could do better than me."

"There is _no one_ better than you." Tino replied sincerely.

"Why do you always say stuff like that?" Lor laughed bitterly, "You don't have to lie to me. I can take the truth. I'm the plain, tom-boy, who isn't going anywhere."

"You are so much more than that." Tino's voice was full of sincerity and undying devotion, "You're beautiful, and unique, and you're going to be a sports writer, like you always wanted. What I want to know is how _they_ don't see that."

Lor slowly opened the stall, and stepped out, her appearance breaking Tino's heart. Her eyes were red and puffy, she had tear tracks running down her face, and her eyes were dull and empty. He wordlessly pulled her to him, hugging her tightly.

"I love you, so much, Lor." he whispered affectionately.

"I love you, too." she smiled through her tears.

_And there's no one I know that can compare_

Tino couldn't think of anyone who could come close to being as perfect as Lor. She was his soul-mate, he firmly believed this, though he had not voiced this to Lor. Her family had practically accepted him as their future son-in-law shortly after he and Lor had gotten together. Tino's mom, on the other hand, had thought of Lor as her future daughter-in-law from the day she had come into Tino's life when they were a year old. Tino had to convince her not to throw a party when he had finally managed to ask Lor out.

No one could compare to Lor, and no one ever would. Tino had accepted that fact a long time ago and nothing would ever change his mind.

__

What makes you different, (alright) makes you beautiful (alright)  
What's there inside you, (alright) shines through to me

Tino watched as Lor laughed at some comment Carver made about how he would look in football pants, sipping her hot chocolate as they sat in the bleachers, watching their high school football team getting their butts kicked again.

"Seriously, how do you think I would look, Lor?" Carver all but pleaded.

"I don't think I want to answer that…" Lor shook her head.

"How would Tino look?"

"Oh, he would look sexy." Lor smirked over at Tino, winking at him, causing the blond boy to begin to stutter.

Lor let out a joyful laugh while Carver gave Tino trouble.

Shortly after, the crowd was on their feet, lead by Lor-who was cheering extra loud-when the second oldest Danny scored a touchdown.

"THAT'S MY BROTHER!" Lor yelled, jumping up and down, screaming cheerfully.

Tino and Carver watched her, laughing at her enthusiasm, but joining her in her cheering after a moment.

_In your eyes I see, all the love I'll ever need  
You're all I need, oh girl  
What makes you different, makes you beautiful to me  
_

Lor entered Tino's room, softly closing the door behind her.

"Hey." she greeted quietly, looking at the floor.

"Hey." Tino replied in the same tone, his eyes not leaving his computer screen.

The two had had a relatively huge fight, on what, neither couldn't exactly remember. They had not spoken since the fight on Monday. It was now Friday, and Lor decided that they needed to fix whatever it was that had broken.

"Your mom let me in." Lor tried to get the conversation going.

"Good for you." Tino replied stiffly.

"I think we should talk." Lor barely whispered, he throat tight.

"No." Tino shook his head, "That is why I have avoided you; I don't want to hear those words. I don't want to hear what comes after that."

"I wasn't going to end it." Lor immediately said, "I just think we need to talk about what happened, because this past week has been awful for me, and I know you feel the same."

Lor walked over to Tino's desk and forced his chair to turn around and she looked into his eyes, "Tino, I love you so much. When I say that, I mean."

"I know." Tino whispered, his voice caught when he saw her eyes shining with her emotions, with her love for him, "I love you, too. And I am so sorry."

"Me, too." Lor replied, kissing him sweetly.

Tino pulled her down into his lap, kissed her head, and they caught up on what they had missed in each other's lives.

_Hey, yeah yeah yeah  
You got something so real  
You touched me so deep (touched me so deep)_

Lor's head rested on Tino's lap as they watched the Big Bang Theory marathon. She had had soccer camp that whole day and was wiped out.

"How're you're legs doing?" Tino asked with a smile, looking down at his girlfriend.

"I'll let you know when I can feel them again." Lor replied, groaning as she accidently moved. She had run at least ten miles that day, seeing as the coach expected more out of her as she was the captain. She had been running since four that morning and the coach had her running non-stop until camp had ended, at seven that night.

"Dudes!" Carver exclaimed, running into the house, "I have the best idea for what we should do tonight!"

"Uh, we're kinda stuck here for the night," Tino replied, looking down at Lor, "And possibly tomorrow."

"That's right!" Carver exclaimed, "Soccer camp was today. How'd it go?"

"How do you think it went?" Lor asked as Carver sat down in the chair, "Tino had to carry me here from practice. I have not been able to move since then."

Carver cringed, before changing the subject, "So, Big Bang marathon, huh?"

Tino laughed, smiling broadly as Lor began to poke fun at the fact that Carver was afraid of her.

She had such a way of making him feel completely at home, completely himself, without fear of judgment. He loved her, and he probably had his whole life.

Without thinking, her bent over and kissed her quickly, and she responded right away. They only broke apart when Carver began ranting and gagging. Laughing, they apologized to Carver and the trio went back to watching the show and joking around with each other.

_You see material things  
Don't matter to me_

Tino sat in his room, surround by the various birthday gifts he had received at his party just a few hours ago.

"Hey, you." Tino smiled as Lor climbed in through the window.

"Hey," Lor smiled, kissing him, "Happy Birthday, Tino."

"Thanks." Tino smiled back, kissing her again.

"Sorry I couldn't make it to your party." Lor apologized for the umpteenth time.

"Hey, you're brother choked on a meatball," Tino laughed, "You had to be at there for him."

Lor had to laugh along with him. After a while she said, "I have your present. It's a poem I wrote for you. I know it sounds cheesy, but you are very hard to shop for."

Reading the poem, he let out a shaky breath, "It's beautiful, Lor."

"You really like it?" Lor bit her lip uncertainly.

"I love it." Tino replied with a smile, "I think I'm gonna have it framed."

"Tino." Lor laughed, blushing.

"Thank you, Lor."

Tino kissed her sweetly before taking her downstairs for some of the leftover birthday cake.

_So come as you are  
You've got nothing to prove  
You've won me with all that you do_

Lor pulled at her dress, obviously uncomfortable in it, but this was a big night and she wanted everything to be perfect. She had made Tino's favorite dinner and had pulled out a bunch of home videos-both from her family and his. The best part was that she had managed to get the house to herself for the evening, an unimaginable feat. This was simple, the perfect evening for their one year anniversary.

"Lor!" Tino called, having learned long ago that it was okay for him to just come into the house.

"Kitchen!" she yelled back, putting the final touches on the dinner table.

"Wow." Tino breathed out, entering the candle lit kitchen and catching Lor as she tripped attempting to walk in her high heels.

"Hey." Lor smiled brightly, kissing his cheek.

"Why don't you change before we do anything else?" Tino suggested, "You look so uncomfortable."

Lor smiled softly at him and headed up the stairs to her room and Tino headed over to her chair, placing his gift to her in front of her plate.

"Better?" Lor asked, entering the room again.

Wearing an old pair of jeans and one of the many shirts she had stolen from Tino over the years, she looked much more comfortable than she did wearing the dress her aunt had bought her while in Paris.

"Much." Tino smiled softly, wrapping his arms around her, "You look much more like you."

Lor smiled in response and the two took their seats.

"Tino?" Lor whispered, looking up at him in shock, holding the long rectangular box.

"Open it." Tino replied, smiling broadly.

Lor opened the box and pulled out a necklace. The chain was thick and held a rather large pendant. On the pendant, in a black silhouette, on a crème colored background, was the scene of Peter, Wendy, John, and Michael flying past Big Bend and toward the second star on the right.

"Tino." Lor whispered, tears filling her eyes. She had spotted the necklace weeks ago, but had been devastated when she saw that the price was way out of her price range.

"I saw how much you loved it, so I went back and got it for you." Tino answered.

"Thank you!" Lor exclaimed, getting up and hugging him tightly.

"It was no problem." Tino laughed, happy that she loved his gift that much. "Now, let's eat."

_And I wanna take this chance to say to you  
_

Tino knew that he would go to the ends of the earth, that he would do anything, to make sure that Lor was happy. Which is why he put on a happy face when she found out that she would be going to Boston University. He was happy for her, he really was, but he dreaded having to say good-bye.

"Congrats." he said, smiling at her as she hugged him tightly.

"What's wrong?" she asked, concern shining in her eyes.

"I'm just going to miss you, that's all." Tino replied, "I don't know what I'll do without you next year."

"Tino." Lor sniffed, before flinging her arms around him, hugging him tightly, nothing else seemed to come to mind.

Tino had applied to BU, but had not gotten a letter-acceptance or rejection-yet.

The next few weeks were torture for the young couple, waiting to see if Tino would be joining Lor in Boston.

When the letter finally came, relief flooded through them, and Lor hugged him tightly.

"Congrats." She whispered, kissing his cheek.

Tino smiled down at the acceptance letter in his hands. They were going to Boston.

A few days later, Carver got his.

_What makes you different, (alright, yeah yeah) makes you beautiful (alright)  
What's there inside you, (alright) shines through to me_

Tino and Carver entered the McQuarrie house, surprised when Lor's brothers didn't dog pile on them as they usually did.

Lor hadn't been at school that day and she hadn't responded to either of their texts throughout the day. Needless to say, they were worried about her.

"She's in her room," Kenny told them, nodding solemnly toward the staircase.

"You go, T." Carver told his best friend.

Tino nodded his thanks and headed up the stairs. He headed toward her door, covered with various "Do Not Disturb" signs that she had collected over the years.

Knocking on the door, he heard a muffled response that he knew was "Go away", but he simply opened the door and shut it softly behind him.

"Hey, Lor." he greeted, spotting his girlfriend, curled up under her blankets in the darkening room.

"Go away, Tino." she sniffed, "You don't need to see me like this."

Tino just shook his head and removed his shoes. He, wordlessly, climbed on to the bed behind her and wrapped his arms around her, comforting her in the only way he could think of.

She didn't fight him, she just turned to face him and clenched his shirt as she began to cry again as he offered her words of comfort, knowing that she would tell him what was bothering her when she was ready.

"She died," Lor sniffed, after a short time, "My grandma."

"Oh, Lor." Tino replied, hugging her to him even tighter, trying to give her as much comfort and strength as he could.

He hated thinking it, but she was gorgeous when she let her emotional walls come down. He immediately shook the thought away and returned to trying to comfort her.

_In your eyes I see, all the love I'll ever need  
You're all I need, oh girl  
What makes you different, makes you beautiful_

Lor stood between Tino and Carver, both offering her their strength to help her get through the day, the funeral. She had given the eulogy at the ceremony, leading everyone to tears. She hadn't stopped crying for more than twenty minutes since she had found out about her grandmother's passing, and it broke Tino's heart.

The guest soon retired to the McQuarrie house, where everyone shared their stories about the crazy old lady that Lor admired more than anyone. Tino clutched her hand tightly as fresh tears began filling her eyes and she shot him a grateful smile, wrapping him arm around her and clutching onto him as if her life depended on it. Tino took in the worried looks the guest were sending her and lead her out into the backyard to escape the weary gazes of the guest.

No words were needed, Tino just wrapped his arms around her, hugging her close to him until her tears had subsided and she was ready to go back inside.

__

You don't know (you don't know) how you touched my life (touched my life)  
Oh in so many ways (so many ways) I just can't describe

Lor plopped down next to Tino at lunch, enjoying the nice, Spring air that circled around her, "Hey, what's up?"

Tino turned to face his smiling girlfriend and kissed her quickly before Carver joined them.

"No too much." Tino replied, "I narrowly avoided being paired with Tish for a history project."

"And by narrowly, he means that I walked into class late, so the teacher called out my name instead of his." Carver grumbled, glaring at Tino.

"It was your own fault." Tino replied with a smile.

"Oh, I got you something." Lor smiled brightly, opening her backpack and preventing the boys from continuing their pointless argument. Pulling out a cardboard box that clothes would be put in for a gift, she said, "Open it."

Tino laughed, but opened the box and let out a gasp. Inside, were some of the rare issues of X-Men that he had been looking for. He looked up at her with wide-eyes, not able to find the words to express his thanks.

"What occasion is this?" Carver asked, knowing that it wasn't an anniversary or Tino's birthday.

"I just wanted to thank him for being there for me these past few weeks while my family and I were dealing with everything." Lor smiled sadly. She pulled out an envelope and handed it to Carver, "This is your thank you."

Carver opened the envelope and pulled out a twenty dollar gift card to his favorite shoe store, providing for the remained of the money he needed to buy pair of shoes he had been saving up for.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Carver cheered, launching himself at Lor and hugging her tightly, causing Lor and Tino to laugh.

"You're one of a kind, Lorraine McQuarrie." Tino said softly, kissing her sweetly, "We are so lucky to have you in our lives."

"I know." Lor replied cheekily, gaining laughs from the boys. Her expression turned more serious and she said, "But, really, I'm the lucky one."

She smiled softly at them and they tackled her backwards, their arms wrapped around her, hugging her tightly.

The three spent the rest of lunch laying on the ground, under their tree, laughing.

_You taught me what love is supposed to be  
It's all the little things that make you beautiful to me (so beautiful)  
Oh yeah, yeah  
_

It was prom night and Tino and Lor swayed to a slow song, laughing as Carver accepted a dance from Francis.

"He's a good guy." Lor laughed, watching as Carver forced a smile.

"Yeah." Tino agreed. Looking down at Lor's Cinderella inspired dress, he said, "Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?"

"About a hundred times." Lor laughed in response.

"Just wanted to make sure you knew." Tino grinned.

The two continued to sway, ignoring Carver's attempts to get them to "save" him from Francis, lost in their own world.

"I love you, Tino." Lor said, looking up at her boyfriend, "I love you so much more than you know."

"I know." Tino smiled down at her. Kissing her forehead, he said, "I love you, too. Always have, always will."

Lor smiled and rested her head on his shoulder as Tino tightened his arms around her waist. She had taught him what it meant to love someone, and she was the queen of his world.

_What makes you,  
What makes you different, (what makes) makes you beautiful (to me)  
What's there inside you, (there shines) shines through to me_

Tino and Lor lay on his bed- his head at the head of the bed, hers at the foot- while Carver sat in Tino's computer chair, debating whether or not to crash Tish's party.

"So, what's the verdict?" Carver asked, directing the question mostly to Lor.

"While I would love to see the look on her face, I just don't think it's worth it." Lor replied, being the only one of the three who was strongly against the idea, "I don't think I would be able to be in the same room as her."

The boys nodded in understanding. Tish's betrayal had hurt all of them, but none more so than Lor. Whenever it came to Tish, the boys always let Lor make the final decision.

"So," Carver changed the subject, "what _are_ we going to do tonight?"

"If anyone suggests the mall, I will hit you." Lor supplied.

"Okay, so, no mall." Tino laughed, "Funville?"

"It's Biker night." Carver reminded him, "It'll be full of smoke."

"Hey, Tino," Tino's mom appeared in the doorway, carrying a big cardboard box, "Look what I found, all the old home videos."

Tino groaned as Lor was the first one up, walking down to the living room with his mom. Following her, the boys made their way downstairs.

They spent the night watching home videos of the three of them growing up, fast forwarding through the sections that had Tish in them.

"Oh," Tino's mom, exclaimed, "I love this one."

On the screen was a three year old Tino, who was telling his mom about his day at pre-school and how he and Lor were going to be married someday.

Tino smiled softly at Lor, pulling her closer and kissing her temple as she sighed contently.

Carver and Tino's Mom shared a knowing smile as they knew that Tino's three year old self was correct.

_In your eyes I see, all the love I'll ever need  
You're all I need, oh girl  
What makes you different, makes you beautiful to me  
_

Graduation. It was finally here. Lor couldn't believe it. As she threw her hat up in the air, she couldn't help the laugh that escaped her. She did it. She hurriedly met up with Carver and Tino, hugging them tightly.

When Tino pulled away, he took her hand and slowly sunk down onto one knee. Lor's eyes widened and her free hand flew to cover her mouth.

"Lorraine McQuarrie, will you marry me?" Tino produced a ring box containing a beautiful champagne diamond in a gold setting.

"Yes!" Lor exclaimed, jumping on her boyfriend, knocking them both over onto the football field.

By this point, the three friends' families had joined them and were smiling and cheering happily.

"I love you, Lor." Tino said, looking up at her like she was a goddess.

"I love you, too, Tino." Lor smiled down at him, her feelings for him shining in her eyes before she bent down and kissed him.

_Everything you do is beautiful (so beautiful)  
Love you give shines right through me (shines right through to me)  
Everything you do is beautiful (ooh, ooh ooh ooh oh)  
Oh, you're beautiful to me (to me)_


End file.
